An aggressive cell type of childhood cancer that forms in muscle tissue could have positive results for scientists.
New discovery for treatments
The scientists successfully realized that these rhabdomyosarcoma cells could be transformed into normal, healthy muscle cells. This is a great advance to form new therapies in the disease and could solve other similar advances in other types of cancer.
cells converted to muscle
“Cells literally become muscle,” says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory molecular biologist Christopher Vakoc.
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“The tumor loses all the attributes of cancer. They are changing from a cell that just wants to make more of itself to cells dedicated to contraction. Because all of its energy and resources are now devoted to contraction, it can’t multiply again.”
What is rhabdomyosarcoma?
sciencealert.com explains that rhabdomyosarcoma is a common type of cancer in children and adolescents, and most cases begin when cells mutate and multiply in skeletal muscle.
“Rhabdomyosarcoma is aggressive and often fatal; survival rates for the intermediate risk group are between 50 and 70 percent,” the website states.
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One of the treatment options for this type of cancer in children and adolescents is differentiation therapy. This arose when scientists noticed “that leukemia cells are not fully mature, similar to undifferentiated stem cells that have not yet fully developed into a specific cell type.”
“Every successful medicine has its origin story”, says Vakoc. “And research like this is the breeding ground for new drugs.”